hour later, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell signalled his agreement with the president. >> so i agree, let's pass the tax relief portion now. let's take what's been agreed to and get moving. we all want to protect tax pairs and we can get it done now. >> however, despite what sounds like good news, there will be no vote in the house tonight even in the house reaches a deal. in fact, the senate has adjourned until tomorrow. >> joining me now when we talk a couple of hours ago, there wouldn't be a vote on either side. but maybe something from the senate tonight? quite possibly. aparentally, the sticking point, we've been talking about this all day, they wanted to delay these automatic spending cuts. they were supposed to force everybody to act. what they have agreed to is a two-month delay in those spending cuts. we're talking about $12 billion a month, $24 billion. it is a measly amount of money when you consider the federal budget. the federal budget out lays about $4 trillion a year. that's the state of play right now. they're trying to tab yup late it. chris, there is so muc

democrats since then. mitch mcconnell, of course, the republican leader here in the senate, has said he has reached out to joe biden, the vice president, and not incidentally the president of the senate in that capacity. he has had a couple of conversations with him according to republican senators, one, just within the last hour, at least one, when mitch mcconnell left a closed door luncheon of republican senators to speak with joe biden by phone. we understand that joe biden, our crack white house team, put eyes on him going into the white house about 1:45 this afternoon. he was in delaware yesterday. seems unlikely at this point that biden would make the trip up to capitol hill for any face-to-face negotiations. democrats say this is simply a ruse, mitch mcconnell trying to go around harry reid, the democratic leader here and appealing to joe biden, trying to make it look in democratic estimation as if republicans are going the last mile, but, look, we're stuck. we're nowhere at this point. there was a major setback earlier. you mentioned it, the so-called chained cpi. a lot of peopl

day. mitch mcconnell and harry reid say they're going to come out and try to hammer out a bipartisan deal that can pass the senate with enough republican votes to convince the house to act and even president obama who had been concerned that they were not going to act and challenging them for an up and down vote said he was optimistic. here's the president after that meeting. >> i just had a good and constructive discussion at the white house with senate and house leadership about how to prevent this tax hike on the middle class and i'm optimistic we may still be able to reach an agreement that can pass both houses in time. >> now what would be in that mini deal? we're talking about tax increases for people at near the top of the income scale. the question is the threshold, 400 or $500,000 are the likely places that that could end up. it would likely turn off the automatic sequester by using some of the revenue from the tax increases to account as budget cuts and turn off they is quester and it would also extend unemployment benefits and do the so-called doc fix to prevent reimbursem

of the union." we still don't know if a deal is in the works or out of the question. mitch mcconnell promised aen update as soon as he had any news to make. that could happen when the senate convenes a rare sunday session of congress. looking to dominate his side of the story while leaders wrangle on the details, president obama made his first sunday show appearance in three years, sitting down with nbc's david gregory this morning to talk about the fiscal cliff. >> i'm arguing for maintaining tax cuts for 98% of americans. i don't think anybody would consider that some liberal left wing agenda. that used to be considered a republican mainstream agenda. >> joining me senator olympia sn snowe of maine. let me start with that. it does seem sort of counter intuitive to have republicans wanting to fight for tax hikes for no one and in that fight, being willing to allow tax hikes for everyone? >> you know, i would agree with that. obviously it is important to make sure that middle income america does not confront a tax increase at the beginning of next year, which is less than two days away. that

leader harry reid, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell would try to hammer out a deal amongst themselves, get it passed through the chamber and send it to the house. house speaker boehner made it clear he had not move first. he wants to see the senate act. the ball is now in the senate's court for all intents and purposes. >> sam, isn't it a bit late in the day to be playing this game of chick snn. >> i don't know what constitutes late in the day at this juncture. i guess we have a few more days, a couple more hours here. i think there's a general consensus we probably will hit the cliff, but that doesn't mean they can't hurry and get something done a day after, two days after, do it retroactively. the hit that would be felt by families would be minimum in that case. a lot of negotiations. we'll see what mcconnell and reid can pick up and forge together. >> nbc news has been reporting that the president's holding firm to this position of not cutting taxes for people earning more than $250,000 a year. you've been talking to republicans all day. will republicans vote for a plan

line after a long day of negotiating with senate republican leader mitch mcconnell. he told members earlier in the day he thought he had a done deal this morning and the white house called and said we want you to take the sequester cuts to domestic and defense spending off the table to get rid of them essentially. mcconnell said how about we do a two month extension on the sequester and pay for it in two months and find out in the two months how to pay for the cuts to make them go away rather than doing major damage to defense and domestic programs that democrats are worried about. a busy night here on capitol hill. crafting this into legislative language. the senate may still vote eventually later tonight and bottom line, vice president biden is here to dot hi i.s and cross the ts. >> let's review about the sequester and how this all started. a lot of people have been following this but some haven't frankly. even on new year's eve as we get ready to get up to the fiscal cliff deadline. the sequester was set up to be so unacceptable that members of both parties on both sides of the

, still no deal. republican senate leader mitch mcconnell reached out to vice president joe biden to help reach an agreement. two men who have served as their party's closers, so to speak, on tough deals before. senate majority leader harry reid says he plans to have a plan up for a vote tomorrow morning. although there are serious differences on both sides. >> we're not going to have any social security cuts at this stage, it just doesn't seem appropriate. i still hold out hope we can get something done but i'm not overly optimistic but i am cautiously optimistic. >> republicans pushed back on claims by democrats that the social security benefit measurement, which is known as the chained cpi and basically would reduce the amount of money that senior citizens get under social security, was part of the republican plan. in any case, that is off the table. senator john mccain posted this on twitter, most of us agree the chained cpi is off the table in these negotiations. president obama continued to put public pressure on republicans during his appearance on "meet the press" today. >> i

market back in a big way, but now we're hearing from mitch mcconnell and let's bring in eamon javers there on capitol hill, i mean, the rumor had been, a lot of traders talking here, eamon, that maybe there's a dell brewing between the president and the senate. that doesn't sound like anything is going on right now according to rich mcconnell. >> what we got was a facebook post from scott brown who said he was come back to washington and jumping on an airplane to review some new proposal from the president that they expected to get. the whole afternoon has been spent by reporters trying -- trying to figure out what was going on. now harry vaed responding to mcconnell so let's right to it. >> he's upset because, quote, the phone never rang. he complains i've not delivered solutions to the fiscal cliff. he's in error. we all know that in july of this year we passed in the senate the relief that would give -- that it would give to middle class americans. that -- that passed the senate. now, we know the republicans have buried themselves in procedural roadblocks in everything we're tryin

president joe biden was called in by mitch mcconnell, who said he needed a dance partner in all of this. guest: if you remember on friday, the president said he was going to turn over the lead to senator reid and senator mcconnell to work out a deal that could pass the senate and that he would sign on to whatever deal that was. senator reid and senator mcconnell were not able to reach that deal. the negotiations between them have turned increasingly bitter and senator mcconnell basically said that he could not work with senator read anymore and reached out to joe biden and ask him to resume the role that he has had in previous negotiations. the arbiter, the deal maker. joe biden had not been as involved atoll has returned to washington and is now part of the negotiations in a way that he had not been expected to until yesterday. host: what will the house and senate be voting on today? will there be an agreement on the fiscal cliff or an alternative plan that would continue unemployment benefits and keep taxes at the bush era level? guest: i'm not sure that anybody knows. and that includ

minority leader mitch mcconnell and vice president joe biden. here are some of the highlights. the proposed deal is set to raise over $600 billion in revenue through new tax increases on the wealthiest americans. the bush era tax rates would be extended for all single americans with income below $400,000. and couples with income below $450,000. all income above those levels would be taxed at a clinton era top tax rate of 39.6%. and capital gains taxes above those amounts would also be increased to 20% up from 15%. the deal is also said to include a permanent fix for the alternative minimum tax and extends unemployment insurance for another year for two million americans. joining me now from capitol hill is nbc news capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. good evening to you. >> good evening, milissa. >> with the house adjourned for night, what can we expect in terms of real progress tonight if anything at all? >> well, it's an unusual sight for a new year's eve, but there is a lot of activity here. you've got all of the senators who are still meeting and in their offices. there are nego

. mitch mcconnell and harry reid have agreed to spend the next 24 hours trying to come to a bipartisan agreement on a smaller fallback plan to keep at least some taxes from going up. after the meeting, house democrat leader nancy pelosi told us she's at least a little encouraged. >> it was constructive. as i say, candor is constructive, and i think it moved us forward, but we'll see. >> reporter: it was the first meeting with the president and all the congressional leaders in six weeks. it follows an impasse that has shaken wall street, the dow down more than 400 points since talks stalled last week. and on main street, business owners like drew greenblatt, who owns a wire basket manufacturing company in baltimore, say the coming fiscal cliff is already causing pain because they just don't know what will happen to their taxes. >> right now we're doing our budget. we're deciding how many people we're hiring next year. we're figuring out how many robots and machines we'll invest in our factories. >> reporter: and across the country all the political bickering had people outraged with was

play-by-play. mitch mcconnell called up -- bypassed senator reid who never got back to him on saturday and said can i speak to the vice president, joe biden? we're used to cutting deals together. like it or not, these are the two that hammered it out. they put it together. when it was all said and done, this is what joe biden had to say about how this deal actually came to fruition. >> what was said there was kind of hard to hear. what was your selling point? biden said: me. it's interesting, the senators, the democrats all got together late yesterday, and joe biden went in, and his pitch to the liberals, particularly liberal liberals was -- quote -- "this is joe biden, and i'm your buddy." he was saying this is the best deal you're going to get. you guys got to go for it, and a majority of the democrats did. >> the little smirks and all that, but the fact is he went in there superseding harry reid who wasn't getting anything done. at least something happened. people wanted to see some sort of action. they wanted to know their congressmen who went home for the break would actu

mitch mcconnell said he wasn't willing to offer the white house a blank check just because we're on the edge of the cliff. take a look. >> last night i told the president we'd be happy to look at whatever he proposes, but the truth is we're coming up against a hard deadline here, and as i said, this is a conversation we should have had months ago. and republicans aren't about to write a blank check for anything senate democrats put forward just because we find ourselves at the edge of the cliff. >> well, actually it's not a blank check the president has been pushing. and this isn't a partisan statement. look at the numbers in terms of what the public thinks about what the president ran on, which is to raise taxes for people who make over $250,000 a year. 47% of the country basically agrees with that, which is what he said. only 13% raise taxes for everybody. they are the real conservatives and fiscally hawkish i would say. and 35% say no tax increase. so americans tend to agree with the president. when you go back to this campaign, there are very few other statements he made as clearly

perception a lot of people had. we heard mitch mcconnell speaking on the floor and he said this shouldn't have taken this long. certainly, there have been discussions about this for months. so in terms of the political drama that was playing out behind the scenes, how did this happen this waif? all of the sudden, at the 11th hour, well passed the 11th hour, we're voting at two in the morning on this measure. >> well, just as the way things happen in congress. nobody does anything until their back is completely against the wall. and i've got to say, maura, it's not all said and done for all the reasons we've outlined. the house of representatives still has to act. there could yet be some hiccups if not major explosions along the way here. but, you know, i mean, in order for people to come together, they've really got to have their backs up against the wall. and if you can say one thing, one remarkable thing about what's happening here on the senate floor this evening, and that is there is an overwhelming vote, and, you know, a lot of people thought we would never see this, to vote for tax

reid, mitch mcconnell, nancy please elosi on the house to say here are the number of democrats i could get if you offer a compromise package. but this is really a tough situation because there's so little time left and we've already seen the markets impacted by this. so if we do go over the cliff, if you look at the polls, most americans saying republicans will bear the brunt. they will blame republicans, but the bottom line is the president will get a lot of blame as well because this is going to impact a lot of people. >> right. nbc's kristin welker keeping us honest at the white house. we will stand by. thank you. >> reporter: thank you. >>> joining us for analysis are two of my favorite guys, both former chairs of the democratic committee, pk to you both. >> karen. >> thanks, karen. >> governor rendell, i'm going to start with you, what do you make of this meeting? to some degree -- do we really expect we're going to get some substance out of this meeting or is this more for the optics so both sides can say they tried one more time? >> i think it's a little more for the optic

stepping out. i think we have some sound from mitch mcconnell talking about the next steps. let's see if we can run that out. >> we had a good meeting at the white house. we are engaged in discussions, if majority leader, myself and the white house in the hopes that we can come forward as early as sunday and have a recommendation. that i can make to my conference and the majority leader can make to his conference. >> i'm going to do everything that i can, i'm confident senator mcconnell will do the same. but everybody, this is -- whatever we come up with, this is going to be imperfect. and some people aren't going to like it. some people will like it less. but that's where we are. and i feel confident that we have an obligation to do the best we can and that was made very clear in the white house. we're going to do the best we kp for the caucuses that we have and the country that's waiting for us to make a deposition exhibit. >> clarence, you've seen this movie before. it sounds like something is in the works here, huh? >> yeah, something is in the works at least on the senate sid

invited nancy pelosi, john boehner, mitch mcconnell, and harry reid to the white house this afternoon for a fiscal cliff summit. >> here we are five days from the new year, and we might finally start talking. >> today's white house meeting might be the last chance to come to an agreement. that's because it takes time for a bill to work its way through both chamber of commerce. >> i don't know time wise how it can happen now. >> under senate rules, the only way a bill could make its way through the procedural hurdles in time is if every senator agrees not to. they'll have 24 hours. outside the beltway, carlino will be watching. >> everyone is kind of in a wait-and-see and fingers-crossed per expect tichb right now. >> since 1930 this is only the fifth time congress has worked after christmas. and today's summit is the first time president obama has met face to face with congressional leaders since mid-november. duarte, tick tock. >> thank you. >>> general schwarzkopf is being remembered this morning as a great hero and tactician. as teresa garcia the general died yesterday at his home

pointing fingers. take a look at mitch mcconnell and harry reid just this afternoon. >> you'll excuse me if i'm a little frustrated at the situation. >> republican leader finds himself frustrated. >> i say i'm frustrated because we have been asking the president and the democrats to work with us. >> he complains i have not delivered the votes. he's in error. >> i told the president i would be happy to look at whatever he opposes. >> he's upset because, quote, the phone never rang. >> as i said, this is a conversation we should have had months ago. >> we have nobody to work with, compromise. >> republicans aren't about to write a blank check. >> we can't negotiate with ourselves. that's all we're doing. >> we don't have many days left. >> we're in the same situation we have been in for a long time. >> as you can see, senate is back in session today. the house plans to be back on sunday. more now on the breaking news. dana bash joins us now from capitol hill. chief white house correspondent jessica yellin on the north lawn tonight. dana, i'll start with you. you listened to big talk on

republican senate minority leader mitch mcconnell would extend tax breaks for people earning less than $400,000 a year or $450,000 for families. it would extend unemployment benefits for a year, and automatic federal spending cuts known as sequester will be delayed for two months and paid for with a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. as you can see, the motion that's taking place on the floor right now, that vote is taking place and we're waiting to hear what the results of that will be. now, in a meeting on monday, vice president biden spent 90 minutes selling the plan for senate democrats and he has said he is optimistic about the results of this and now we are waiting to see if it turns out that he was correct about that. we're joined now on the phone by congressional correspondent mike, who has a lot more insight into exactly what's taking place here. mike, happy new year to you. >> happy new year. this is really incredible. the senate is moving at electric pace here. at least for the senate. now, you might think that's a funny thing to say considering these negotiatio

minority leader mitch mcconnell, the republican saying it is up to the democrats to do something. we'll not do anything until president obama and the democrats come up with a plan and president obama actually late yesterday did call all four leaders, majority, minority leaders in the house and senate that includes mitch mcconnell and said the first time a democrat called him since thanksgiving to talk about this. so they're talking but there is no indication anybody is actually doing anything right now. gregg: what about harry reid? what's his, does he have anything at all maybe towards the end of the week he will put on the table? i've been hearing he will put to a vote an extension of the bush tax cuts for anybody making under $250,000 a year, extend unemployment benefits for some 2 million people that are about to lose them. what are you hearing? >> right. he sounded pretty pessimistic this morning but that could change and there's, kind of a fight, procedurally between the house and the senate in a sense that if reid originates a bill in the senate that would do what you said

mitch mcconnell that he would get the details. that's where from the perspective of republicans where things stand. the president publicly said before he left for his vacation in hawaii since everything else was deadlocked, despite everybody's efforts, because of that what he wants to happen is for the very least for congress to pass a tax cut extension for 98% of americans. his plan which he campaigned on for five years. mitch mcconnell spoke to the president as did the other leaders before the president left hawaii. what mcconnell aide is still saying is that the impression he got is that the white house would or at least some democrat whether it's the white house or harry reid's office would provide the details of what that legislation would look like. they said with tongue firmly in cheek, we checked in a process conference and it can't get through the senate. we need to see if anything will get done and at the same time jessica is hearing from white house sources, i am hearing for democratic sources that they are pushing the ball squarely in the republican court and saying

whether any progress came out of the senate leader mitch mcconnell's meeting with vice president joe biden. >> we've been asking you, our viewers, to send in your thoughts, your messages to elected representatives. so let's close tonight with some advice from one of you to washington. >> my message to all of washington for the new year is to set partisanship aside working on behalf of 100% of the voters, fix this mess you've gotten us into, bring a balanced budget to the table to grow this economy for the long term not the short term. >> there you go. for the long term, not the short term. >> there you go. i'm don lemon. happy new year to you. jooirksz . >>> hello, i'm don lemon and this is cnn's top 10 of 2012. we look at the stories that captured our attention, what we see as the biggest stories of the year around the world, in crime, money, weather and even the biggestscandals and later this hour, those stories chosen by you. anchor of state of the union, candy crowley, with the top ten political stories of 2012. >>> like finding your favorite grain of sand on the beach. impossibl

, mitch mcconnell and harry reid on the last-ditch effort to put together a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff and it is time now for our sunday group, bill kristol of the weekly standard, former democratic senator evan byah and byron york from the washington examiner and kirsten powers of the daily beast web site. you heard mitch mcconnell say he's hopeful and optimistic. will congress pass something in the next 48 hours, something? to avoid the fiscal cliff? >> i don't know. but, i guess, probably. and it will be a bad deal but i suppose better than doing nothing. and, every working american's taxes will go up january 1st if they do nothing about the payroll tax, a pretty big increase, and, defense cuts and everyone agrees, with that policy to have middle class americans' taxes go up, and, it totally irresponsible defense cuts and this is what congress thinks is a good deal. >> chris: i'm not sure it is a good deal but avoids the worst of the fiscal cliff. senator bayh -- obviously, we don't know, what is your sense, no filibuster in the senate? you heard lindsay graham and do republic

this fiscal cliff, boehner and mitch mcconnell have made it clear the president wants a debt ceiling increase of any amount, like $1 trillion, he has to find $1 trillion in savings. >> well, according to corker and alexander, this is $1 trillion in savings from the medicare program if you do what they are suggesting here. >> all from spending, i hope? >> that's what they are saying. >> if it's all from spending, that's something we could do as part of the debt ceiling. that -- that's a fine suggestion. it -- it just shouldn't be confused with the present mess this week. >> but, they are adding this to the conversation if -- i mean, obviously we're not going to get something comprehensive before december 31, but as the talks continue, assuming they do into january, maybe even longer as we get closer to the debt ceiling, is this a kind of a compromise that you can accept on the other side? >> yes. it is very clear that boehner and mitch mcconnell have made clear, if the president wants a dollar of debt ceiling increase, we need to cut spending a dollar, and that goes for $1 trillion be

year's day. harry reid, minority leader mitch mcconnell, house speaker john boehner and house democratic leader nancy pelosi met at the white house yesterday afternoon with the president and vice president. here's where things stand right now. the senate leaders are meeting aiming to avoid tax hikes. and they may vote on a deal sunday or perhaps on monday. jessica yellin is our chief white house correspondent. lisa day jar dayne is on capitol hill. the president used his bully pulpit to reinforce the idea that senators need to get busy. so let's listen. >> the american people are watching what we do here. obviously, their patience is already thin. this is deja vu all over again. america wonders why it is that in this town for some reason, you can't get stuff done in an organized timetable, why everything always has to wait till the last minute. we're now at the last minute. and the american people are not going to have any patience for a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy. not right now. >> so jessica, you were in the room for the president's remarks. on a scale of 1 to 10,

harry reid and mitch mcconnell both expressed optimism after the meeting with the president. what is the basis of their optimism? is this a sign we might be one step, two steps, through step closer to a deal? caller: it does appear we are a step closer to a deal. they are talking about doing is extraordinarily popular stuff. except for the big marquee item, which is letting taxes rise on the wealthy. the rest of the stuff they are looking at doing the stuff they do all the time. it is extending an expiring tax policies. they know the benefit businesses. extent college tuition credits. there are looking at protecting people from the alternative minimum tax. it is all very urgent stuff that needs to be done. there are only two remotely controversial pieces of this, that is what to do with the estate tax and to how to define the wealthy people whose taxes are going to go up. the rest of it is, basically protecting people from tax hikes. i guess extending unemployment benefits and sometimes controversial for the republicans. it appears to have agreed they will do that if they can reach an ag

plan "b" failure, all eyes turn to senate leaders harry reid and mitch mcconnell and whether they work out something short of $4 trillion grand bargain. last-minute stop gap. attending tax cut for people making $250,000 or less. and unemployment benefits for 2 million people who will lose the benefits a week after christmas. >> it is going to be a patch. because in four days we can't solve everything. >> yet, other republicans note the president short-term fix raises some taxes, yet punt spending cuts until next year. >> i would vote for revenue, including the tax rate hike though i don't like them to get, to save the country from becoming greece. i'm not going to set aside the $1.2 trillion in cuts. >> if the president does return to washington this week, unclear whether he will come back here to hawaii for new year's with his family. joe lieberman says he expects the senate to be in session on new year's eve, working on a deal down to the wire. >> thank you, ed. markets dropped on shortened day of trading. dow fell 52. s&p 500 lost 3.5. nasdaq down 8.5. might be a blue christmas for

the middle, democrats nancy pelosi and harry reid. republicans mitch mcconnell and john boehner. those four members of congress are expected to make the drive from the capital, which you see on the right, down pennsylvania avenue, to the white house, there on the left. and we expect them to enter through a side door on the west side of the mansion. that's the entrance right there. and they'll meet with the president. in the oval office. beginning, we're told, at 3:00 p.m., less than one hour from now. and just four days ahead of the so-called fiscal cliff. so a very big moment in the nation's capital. and to walk us through what might happen we turn to jessica yellin, a chief white house correspondent. jessica, we said up front, it is a long shot, give us a best case scenario. >> reporter: the best case scenario would be that all the leaders walk out of this meeting and say they have a deal. the two senators say they can bring it to a vote, and none of their members will filibuster it. house speaker john boehner says he will bring it to the house floor for a vote before new year

daring the republicans to let taxes go up for all americans. this leaves mitch mcconnell in a weird, grey area. he recognizes the gamesmanship and a need to get a deal done and he has a eye on the republican party's conservative base which is relentlessly opposed to any tax increase and senator mccobb nell is up for re-election in 2014 where tea party rebellion toppled his own protÉge and instead, send rand paul to the senate. i'll bring in nbc news capitol hill correspondent, kelly o'donnell. >>> waiting for action here today. >> reporter: it seems pretty quiet at the moment, steve. it's one of those things where you feel like something big is going to happen but as you walk through the corridors here, it seems pretty quiet at the moment. >> well, we have all sorts of conflicting reports out there about what the broad framework would be if there's going to be a deal. i guess the big stumble bling block is number one, what is the fresh hold be for the tax income? $250,000 which obama originally proposed? $400,000 which he supposedly offered in a revised offer a week ago? and then,

, mitch mcconnell himself said in the hallway, just moments ago, that he does expect to go to the white house, as jessica just alluded to. he expects to do that tomorrow. they haven't gotten a formal invitation tomorrow. there's no time set for this meeting tomorrow, but mitch mcconnell says he does expect to go. and so that really does speak to the next move, tomorrow. >> well, that is good news. that is good news, senator mcconnell going to the white house tomorrow, hopefully. but i'm going to ask you about the house of representatives, dana. right now they've been called back to washington, not until sunday, december 30th. now, 48 hours before the fiscal cliff goes over, is that really enough time to get legislation passed, if there's a real deal on the table? >> reporter: is it enough time? probably. if there's really something that is going to pass the senate, and this is a big if, as jessica said, the oddsmakers are definitely seeing the fiscal cliff happening, us going over the fiscal cliff, but if senate does pass something, that would be the next move, then the house could pret

expecting to hear from republican leader mitch mcconnell, maybe even senate majority leader harry reid, as of now so far as we know there is no fiscal cliff deal, but negotiations primarily betweens those two men are going on even as we speak or between their staffs. we're hearing a new sense of optimism from some senate members who believe they might be able to pass some kind of minimalist package that would keep tax rates from going up on the majority of americans. i want to go to capitol hill and cnn's senior congressional correspondent dana bash. dana, is that the sense you get that somehow we should be optimistic about whatever it is that's going on? >> you know, as we talked about before, you definitely get a feeling or the atmosphere here is that there is progress being made but in the same breath, but, there are still thingsing to worked out. as we wait for what we generally see when the senate opens which is the pledge of allegiance, a prayer and so forth, if you see the bottom of your screen, i'm not sure if you can see it, white hair, that is harry reid, the senate majo

take a listen to senate republican leader mitch mcconnell earlier today explaining the problems he's facing in washington. take a listen. >> the truth is we're coming up against a hard deadline here and as i said, this is a conversation we should have had months ago. and republicans aren't about to write a blank check for anything senate democrats put forward just because we find ourselves at the edge of the cliff. >> we do know that the house of representatives has been told that the members there should be back in town here in washington expecting votes on sunday at 6:30 p.m. on sunday and we don't be what that will be and we should get more clarity on that tomorrow if there is, in account fa, a meeting at the white house we might find out what they're hammering out behind closed doors. >> thus far, democrats have refused to do any meaningful entitlement reform and republicans have refused to do anything related to taxes. we both know each side wants a piece of the other to do those exact things and both sides still refuse. is there anything that means those two factors have change

progress and the republican leadership aide in the senate, mitch mcconnell is going to be crucial to a potential last minute breakthrough. we haven't heard anything from the democrats. so at this moment, we're at a stalemate but things can come together quickly if people start to get desperate and politicians start to worry that they will get blamed for a very adverse reaction in the markets and the economy generally. >> some people i've talked to today suggested the mere fact the president is coming back from hawaii early on suggests good tidings. >> well, i think it suggests the president wants to be working on this problem and be seen as working on this problem, but it's only partially up to him. he's got to get the acquiescence of republicans and a temporary extension of tax cuts for people under $250,000. their acquiescence to turn off the sequester to avoid the automatic budget cuts are up to mitch mcconnell in part and also up to john boehner who may be asked before it's over to put on the floor of the house a bill that lacks support of the majority of his own members. that is s

mitch mcconnell of the republicans and then vice president joe biden. we'll find out in the morning whether they were able to make any progress. back to you, don. >> fingers crossed. thank you. we'll have more on these developing stories at the top of the hour. >>> usain bolt is the fastest human being the world's ever known, but i wonder how he'd fair running against the animal jack hanna has just brought out. jack, we seem to have a large, fully formed cheetah. >> this is a cheetah, goes 70 miles an hour. we clock him at 70. the cheetah's eyesight is impeccable, two miles they can spot a rabbit. >> two miles? >> yes. turn him around here for a second. look at his eyes, let the guys pick him up on the camera. notice the dark marks under his eyes like a football player, baseball player, mother nature invented that because the cheetah's one of the only cat to hunt in the heat of the day, 110 degrees outside, they have to hunt. they are a weak cat. look at the foot, you got good guys on these cameras. there, perfect. only cat in the world, amazing shot here. only cat in the world with

president and some sort of modest optimism from both leader reid and minority leader mitch mcconnell. >> tyler, we want to go back to eamon javers. >> you just said when will we hear now from the president again? nbc news is tweeting that barack obama will appear as a guest on "meet the press" this weekend. when we will hear from the president again will be sunday morning. something to watch out for over the weekend. presumably, we'll get incremental details on what this deal is. as this is negotiated throughout friday night, into saturday and the president's appearance into sunday morning. >> president obama to appear on "meet the press" on nbc on sunday. the nail biter of a weekend. you have to wonder if there will we any deal, mini deal, half caff deal, any sort of deal. >> i just want them to get it done before the redskins play the cowboys. that's what matters to me, and what matters to most people in washington by the way. >> i hope it's an exclusive on "meet the press." it is an exclusive. well, he's smart on that. >> the press guys are already here setting up. >> just joining us, so mu

should say, by senate republican and democratic leaders. the republican leader, mitch mcconnell, really put the blame on democrats, but he did seem to indicate that there may be further negotiations that are ongoing here, possibly even as we speak. take a listen to mitch mcconnell earlier this afternoon. >> the truth is, we're coming up against a hard deadline here and as i said, this is a conversation we should have had months ago. and republicans aren't about to write a blank check for anything senate democrats put forward, just because we find ourselves at the edge of the cliff. >> so mcconnell there very much sounding in his remarks today like a man who was expecting a new offer, something from the president of the united states. what we know about the president is that he cut short his hawaii vacation, arriving in d.c. earlier today. and we're not aware of new developments from the president, but mcconnell seemed to telegraph that the president called him yesterday and now expecting that the president would make him some sort of offer at some point in the future. we haven't seen th

directly with the senate's republican minority leader mitch mcconnell. and those contacts continued today. by early this afternoon amid reports of progress, president obama emerged in a campaign style setting. >> today it appears that an agreement to prevent this new year's tax hike is within sight. but it's to the done. there are still issues left to resolve. but we're hopeful that congress can get it done. but it's not done. >> it was widely reported that the deal would include making the bush era tax cuts permanent for families with incomes under $450,000 a year. for households making more than that amount rates would rise from the current 35% to 39.6%. the agreement would also raise the estate tax. in addition unemployment benefits would be extended for one year. otherwise some 2 million americans face the end of their benefits beginning in january. on the senate floor shortly before midafternoon minority leader mcconnell confirmed that the stalemate on taxes appeared to be over. >> i can report that we've reached an agreement on all of the tax the tax issues. we are very very c

, was senator mitch mcconnell and here we have the majority leader in the senate, harry reid. let's listen in for a second. >> the house has reported by the press and we all know, one of the plans didn't have a name, it wasn't plan b. i don't know which plan it was because they've had a number over there. but this plan was to show the american people that the $250,000 ceiling on raising taxes wouldn't pass in the house. why didn't they have that vote? because it would have passed. they wanted to kill it. the speaker wanted to show everybody that it wouldn't pass the house. but he couldn't bring it up for vote because it wouldn't pass. republicans -- a myriad of republicans think it's the fair thing to do and of course every democrat would vote for that. the republican leader finds himself frustrated that the president has called on him to help address the fiscal cliff. he's upset because, quote, the phone never rang. he complains that i have not passed the resolution to pass the fiscal cliff but he's in error. we all know that in july of this year we passed in the senate the relief

with the senate's republican minority leader mitch mcconnell. and those contacts continued today. by early this afternoon amid reports of progress, president obama emerged in a campaign style setting. >> today it appears that an agreement to prevent this new year's tax hike is within sight. but it's to the done. there are still issues left to resolve. but we're hopeful that congress can get it done. but it's not done. >> it was widely reported that the deal would include making the bush era tax cuts permanent for families with incomes under $450,000 a year. for households making more than that amount, rates would rise from the current 35% to 39.6%. the agreement would also raise the estate tax. in addition, unemployment benefits would be extended for one year. otherwise some 2 million americans face the end of their benefits beginning in january. on the senate floor shortly before midafternoon, minority leader mcconnll confirmed that the stalemate on taxes appeared to be over. >> i can report that we've reached an agreement on all of the tax, the tax issues. we are very, very close.

? mitch mcconnell, who is really now at the heart of make something sort of deal today about how far he can take republicans, he says the president called him last week. it was the first time he's talked to the president since november 16. why is-- is there something the president is responsible for that he's not reached out enough to republicans and established that kind of trust that there has been lacking? >> look, i would have liked to have seen the president do more reaching out during the entirety of his first term. keep in mind, the president has been negotiating with john boehner, and that was the agreed upon format. he's been in conserves with him, and when push comes to shove, boehner cannot get these deals done in his caucus. the big change is not in the white house. it's in the culture of congress. it has become increasingly partisan. increasingly polarized districts in the aftermath of redistricting. we have seen that over the decades but particularly the last decade. you have seen a real hardening on both sides. and they're not willing to meet the president on any of th